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Mysuru Heritage Drive

1:01 PM

Mysuru Heritage Drive

An amalgamation of Princely and democratic kingdom; exploring
into the city and follow the heart in it.

Mysore Palace

With the excitement to explore the city of palaces, kings
and thrones, we started our journey before the sun started to glow. Mysore-Bangalore
highway being one of the heavenly places for foodies to explore local flavors.
The journey took a slow ride when Maddur arrived when we needed to fill our
fuels with yummy Special Maddur vadas and Mini tiffin combo at Maddur Tiffanys. A place where must try
are Maddur vadas. The excitement increased as we crossed the bridges over
Kaveri River. The journey continues following the google maps we took the
diversion into the Ring Road.

Special Maddur Vada of Maddur Tiffanys

Our first destination was Jayalakshmi Vilas Mansion and Folk Lore Museum. When we reached the
Museum, we got to know some movie shooting was happening and it was closed for
the public. We were a little disappointed. The Palace Jayalakshmi Vilas is
inside the Manasa-gangothri Karnataka university campus. The campus is shaded
with trees and heritage.

Jayalakshmi Vilas Mansion and Folk Lore Museum

Next on our list was the Jaganmohan palace art gallery. It
was a short and pleasant drive with wide and clean roads and handful of road
traffic, covered with trees. No wonder why The Swachh Bharat rankings released
by the Union Urban Development Ministry rated Mysore as the cleanest city in
India.

Jaganmohan Palace
constructed in 1861, is a Hindu style palace with a grandeur facade which is a
later addition to the structure having a wall behind it. Sri Jayachamarajendra Art Gallery located inside the Jaganmohan Palace. The gallery houses the Murals, paintings, and Carnatic instruments used by the court musicians along with the articles and daily holds of the Royal family. The paintings subjected to depict the lineage of the royal throne heirs of Wodeyars. The most prominent paintings displayed here include the “Glow of Hope” or “Lady with the lamp” by S L Haldankar. Paintings of celebrated royal bloodline painters Raja Ravi Varma and
Raja Rama Verma are a highlight of the Art Gallery. Miniature paintings by
Gunoy were also eye catching. The paintings of Sri M Ramanarasaiah in typical
style of Mysore paintings are also displayed here, his most popular painting of
Sri Jayachamaraja Wadeyar’s durbar is placed on the ground floor of the
Gallery, and it is also the largest painting of the Gallery. The French clock
at the ground floor is also a highlight of the Museum. On the second floor is
the collection of musical instruments, once used by the Royal family. An
aesthete could easily spend 2-3 hours in gazing the beauty, while others can
spend quality time of at least an hour to peep through the gallery. There are
more than 2000 paintings and antics displayed here; apart from the prominent
ones others can be skipped. One can find Arts And Crafts shops Inside the
Palace campus.

Jaganmohan Palace & Sri Jayachamarajendra Art Gallery

Art work on top of the tall doorways of Jaganmohan Palace

With the glory of the royal family in our eyes we moved on
for our lunch at Aramane café.
Aramane café served us the delicious food which houses at the heart of the city
on the Sayyaji Rao road.

The tired souls needed some relaxation and we moved to Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel to check in.
The Lalitha Mahal Palace transformed into a heritage hotel is being maintained
by Ashok group of hotels. The Palace was built in 1921 and is strategically
located on the outskirts of Mysore overlooking the Chamundi Hills, surrounded
by greenery.

Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel

The central dome and the double-column supporting structure are an
outstanding feature of the Palace exteriors, while the interiors feature the Italian
marble staircase and Belgian crystal chandeliers. There were paintings
displayed at every corner of the Palace, turning it to be on Heritage side. The
hours we spent in the hotel gave us a royal treatment with a feel of being in
royal court.

Huge Mirror welcomes the guest through the Italian marble staircase

The Royal Stairways through the main entrance

The glass dome at the center, turns black during night and colorful during day time

After our relaxed pool bathe, we started enjoying the beauty
of the palace with lighting into the stars and dark sky. The grandeur made us
aphonic.

Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel lighted at night

We had our breakfast in the royal dining room “Sapphire”
which was an amazing experience to feel like a king. The ballroom or todays
Sapphire Restaurant is the most beautiful part of the Palace, with a wooden
flooring and a high ceiling with domed skylights made of Belgian glass.

Experience the Royal Dining at the Sapphire Restaurant

High ceiling with domed skylights made of Belgian glass at Sapphire

We started our journey to Chamundi hills, on our way we had
a stopover at the Sand Sculpture Museum.
This is the first sand sculpture museum in India made by artist Gowri M N. The
main attractions were Mysore Dasara Ambari ,
Goddess Chamundi and others were made out of sand.

Marine Life sculptured on sand

Mysore dasara Ambari

(Clockwise From Left)A Romantic Scene, Sri kanta dutta Narasimha raja wodeyar seated on the throne during navarathri, Islam Culture depicting the culture of middle east and a warrior scene

Our journey to Chamundi
Hills continued with halts at viewpoints. The panoramic view of Mysore city
can be experienced at various viewpoints. We got the blessings of Goddess
Chamundi and we started heading back to Mysore city. The halt point in the mid
journey was at Nandi- A big bull which is made of single stone. There are a lot
of street shops near the Chamundi temple and Nandi, who sell hand carved stone
structures of Nandi, Shivalinga, and Buddha. The road conditions are good to
Chamundi temple, while the road to Nandi was manageable.

350 years old Giant Nandi statue atop the Chamundi hills, about 16 feet in height & 24 feet long

We had a stopover near the Mysore Zoo for our late lunch at Mysore Refreshments, they serve
delicious Paper Masala Dosa and one of the best filter coffee.

At 7pm during listed government holidays and weekends we
find the Mysore Palace Illuminated.
And we were lucky to catch the timings at right moment. The lighting started
exactly at 7pm and lasted for thirty minutes. Near to hundred thousand incandescent
bulbs lit the structure is one of the main attractions in India round the year.

Illuminated Mysore Palace as seen from Chamaraja Circle, statue of Chamaraja Wodeyar in the foreground

Mysore Palace lit, a sight not to be missed

The day ended with our dinner at NalpakRestaurant near Vontikoppal.

The third day was the most awaited moment for us to watch
the main attraction Mysore Aramane (Palace). The day started with our breakfast
at Hotel Mylari (not the Original Hotel
Mylari). Over here the delicious Benne (butter) masala dosa are one of the best
with every bite just melted in the palate and their filter coffee was
refreshing. Later we visited St.
Philomena Church. A neo catholic style church built by the Wodeyar who
promoted all kind of religion in their kingdom. Photography is prohibited
inside the Church.

St. Philomena's Church, constructed in 1936 in a Neo Gothic style architecture

By 11am in the morning we reached the Mysore Palace south gate. We entered through Varaha gate or the
south gate.

The most spectacular rooms/halls inside the palace are the
Amba vilasa or the private durbar, the public durbar Hall, Gombe Thotti or the
Doll’s Pavilion, and the Kalyana Mantapa.

As we entered the Palace we passed by Gombe thotti, where the dolls which are used by the royal family
during Dasara festival is been displayed. It also contains ceremonial things
and other Indo European dolls. The golden howdah or the Ambari (Golden Throne)
which is been used now during Dasara to carry Goddess Chamundeshwari is also
displayed at Gombe Thotti. The howdah is covered with 80 kilograms of pure gold.
We continued seeing the paintings of the wall which depicts the Mysore Dasara
darbar.

The Amba Vilasa
room is used by the highness for their private audience. The entry is through
an elegantly carved rosewood doorway with Ganesh idol carved in and inlaid with
ivory art. The central nave of the hall has ornately gilded columns, stained glass ceilings, decorative steel grills, and chandeliers with fine floral motifs, mirrored in the pietra dura mosaic floor embellished with semi-precious stones.
The Kalyana Mantapa is a grand, octagonal-shaped pavilion with a multi-hued stained glass ceiling with peacock motifs arranged in geometrical patterns. The entire structure was wrought in Glasgow, Scotland. The floor also displays a peacock mosaic, designed with tiles from England. Oil paintings illustrating the royal procession and Dasara celebrations of bygone years are displayed on the walls. The main purpose of the hall was for celebrating royal weddings, birthdays & ceremonial functions.
The Public Durbar was meant for the king to host major ceremonial gatherings and also where the general population could meet the king at scheduled times to submit petitions. The public durbar hall has a painted roof and stretching through the breadth of the eastern face of the Palace with columns supporting the structure only at the ends, resulting in a large column-less open gallery. There are seating arrangements at various levels dedicated to different class of people.
One of the interesting features of the palace architecture is the façade, which has seven wide arches and two smaller ones adjoining the central arch supported by tall pillars.

Taking Photographs inside Mysore Palace is strictly prohibited, one have to deposit their cameras at a safe locker located at the south entrance gate.
We continued to their residential housing of the Royal Family located behind the main Palace, now the Wodeyar residence held the households as displays. The journey ended with a memory of heritage notions..

Beautiful scenes of Kaveri river during sunset

We had our lunch at the Kamat Restaurant near Bannimantap road. The journey to Bangalore was set up. We stopped at Channapatna to shop wooden toys. An evening coffee at Kamath Lokaruchi kept us fresh till Bangalore.

If you have more time to visit I would recommend some more places as listed below.

Top 10 Places to visit in Mysore City:

Mysore Maharaja Palace

Jaganmohan Palace and Art Gallery

Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, Mysore Zoo

Chamundi Hills

Lalitha Mahal Palace

Saint Philomena Church

Karanji Lake

Railway Museum Mysore

Jayalakshmi Vilas Folklore Museum

Kukkarahalli Kere

Do visit the Mysore Sand Sculpture Museum which is on the foot hills of Chamundi Hills.

Top 10 Places to visit near Mysore (Within 35km from Mysore City bus stand):